I Think I Love You
by itsnotthecolorofdesiremarius
Summary: Modern University AU where Marius is going on his honeymoon and needs his responsible friend, Enjolras to watch over his reckless, carefree roommates, Eponine and Grantaire. It's only rated T because of excessive cussing :) Pairings: Enjolras & Grantaire, Eponine & Courfeyrac
1. Chapter 1

"It's two weeks, Enjolras," said Marius, practically begging.

"No." Enjolras said, looking him directly in the eye with so much confidence it was amazing Marius hadn't given up thirty minutes ago.

"_Please_. I need this. They need this, and then after that very short two weeks you can get back to your normal routine of whatever it is you do in your spare time," Marius pleaded, Enjolras just sighed, infuriated that Marius expected him to look after his roommates while he honeymooned.

"Marius, you don't need this. You're still in school, far too young to be married, you still have classes that you're barely scraping by in, and you're still in _my_ debate team. Besides, Eponine and Grantaire are both grown up. They don't need someone looking out for them." He said, and turned to leave, but Marius stood inside the doorway, blocking him. "Marius, get the fuck out of my way."

"Enj, come on, we both know they need someone looking out for them. I'll even fucking pay you if you want!" he said, shifting his weight as if to prepare for when Enjolras would shove him out of the door and into the hallway.

"No."

"Okay, why not?" Marius asked, his voice sounding incredibly immature and whiny. Enjolras had to pause for a minute in order to figure out how to respond to Marius' question. They both knew the obvious answers, of course.

"I have finals, which entail studying, in case you weren't aware of that since _you never do it_, and debate team and job applications and now I'll have to find your replacement and anyways, you know I'm not very good at interacting with those two." He said, running his hands through his curly golden hair in frustration.

"It's two weeks. Who knows, you might even enjoy it; relaxing wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, you know," Marius said, still maintaining his stiff posture in the doorway.

"Well I certainly will not _enjoy it_, if you're implying that's a reason I should go. Jeez, Marius, just ask Courf or Jehan or Comebeferre or someone, they'd all be thrilled to live with Eponine and Grantaire for two weeks." Enjolras walked forward as if he was going to push past Marius, but stopped.

"_Enjolras_," Marius said, "I don't trust anyone else with them the way I trust you. I will do anything in return, please."

Enjolras eyed him suspiciously, even less enthusiastic to take the job now that Marius had fully expressed the necessity that it had to be _Enjolras_, and not someone else, but decided he should anyways. He sighed, and nodded at Marius.

"Fine, Pontmercy, I'll do it, but you owe me one," he said, regretting his decision as soon as he made it. Marius rushed forward and embraced him, while Enjolras just stood there, rolling his eyes at what an idiot his friend could be.

"Oh, Enjy, _Thank you_, I simply cannot describe how much this means to me, I promise I'll pay you back. You're such a great friend!" he said, as Enjolras freed himself from the hug and shook his head.

"That is not my name. Now leave before I change my mind," he said, gathering his books and preparing to head to class, as Marius danced around the room, flipped out his cell phone and called Cosette, and then skipped down the hallway.

Now that Marius had left he was regretting he was beginning to regret his decision even more so. He didn't know Eponine or Grantaire personally, all his knowledge of them came from the things that were recited in the hallway or stories that Marius had told him. Eponine was apparently a full scholarship student who somehow got away with ditching 80% of her classes and yet still passing them. Marius said she had a vague interest in social work but with her lack of focus and motivation, he couldn't see it happening. People said she did drugs and partied a lot, but whenever anyone brought this up in front of Marius he denied it.

Grantaire was a seventeen year old freshman art major who seemed to have little interest in anything other than drinking and ditching class with Eponine, although people raved about his talent. Enjolras had been assigned to tutor him last semester, where he showed up once for five minutes just to inform Enjolras that he would not be attending any of the other sessions. They had an argument about it, in which Grantaire had held up impressively, and Enjolras had tried to recruit this lost young boy for debate team. He just sort of laughed and walked out, though.

The two of them were very well known amongst the student body, and looked up to for their nonchalant attitudes and dismal appearances. _Well, _Enjolras thought, _this was going to be interesting if nothing else. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Your _boyfriend_ is gonna come stay with us, aren't you _excited?" _Eponine teased, hanging up on Marius and attempting to throw her cell phone into her purse, but missing by quite a lot.

"I talked to him _once_," Grantaire said, adjusting his position so that he was lying right next to Eponine as the two of them stared at the cloudy sky.

"Yeah and you haven't fucking shut up about it ever since," Eponine said.

"You're exaggerating like _a lot_," he said, rolling his eyes but smiling because she was right; he loved to talk about the beautiful blonde godlike senior who led the debate team.

"_Oh, Eponine, I saw my Apollo today! You should see the way he runs his hands through his perfect blonde curls when he gets frustrated! Oh, and how sexy he looks when he gets all pissed off about politics, and how he manages to wear some red article of clothing every single day! Oh, and 'Ponine, don't even get me started about that ass…"_ she said, mimicking Grantaire. He shoved her long dark hair into her face.

"I don't talk like that," he said defiantly, but recalling that he had said all of those things.

"_I don't talk like that_," she mocked, using her Grantaire voice. He just laughed and rolled over, and she sat up. "You know you should really tell Marius about this obsess-" he gave her a hurt look and she changed her wording, "this crush. They're like BFFs."

Grantaire just laughed, "That's a great idea!" he said sarcastically, "oh my god, Eponine, I've just had the most brilliant epiphany. Why don't we _both_ tell Marius who we like at the same time?"

"Wow. Grantaire, you're a genius. Why didn't we think of this before?" she said, equally as sarcastic as he was. She fell on his stomach, both of them laughing hysterically. They were both supposed to be in class right now, but, as usual were blowing it off in favor of sitting in the quad, drinking, and laughing about their lives.

Finally, they pulled themselves together, "Eponine, I really am kind of nervous," Grantaire said, dropping his head on Eponine's lap and looking up at her pretty face. It was a shame Marius didn't see her in a romantic way, because she really was great.

"What are you nervous about? Afraid all this slacking off is gonna catch up with us?" she asked, only half serious.

"I'm nervous I'm gonna do something dumb as shit and Apollo- I mean Enjolras- is just going to think I'm…I don't even know…" he trailed off, knowing Eponine would understand what he meant.

"Nah, you're just gonna learn exactly how I feel every single fucking day," she said, cheerfully, and he laughed. "Let's go home," she said.

"It's like noon, we shouldn't just _go home_," he said, and she gave him an odd look, since usually she was the once insisting that they shouldn't slack of as much as they do.

"Why? Don't want Enjolras to have a bad first impression of you?" she asked.

"Second impression, and fuck it. Let's go," he said, standing up and giving Eponine his hand to pull her up. Her phone buzzed, and showed a text from an unknown number.

_It's Enjolras. Marius told me to text you and make sure you and Grantaire are in your classes. _

Grantaire couldn't help but smile, Eponine just smirked, and texted him back.

_Fuck u. I do wat I want_, she typed. Grantaire yanked the phone away from her.

"Jeez, Ep, you weren't really gonna send that, were you?" he said, slowly handing the phone back to her. She laughed at him, and he blushed, like bright red. He sent many things like that daily to Marius, and she didn't seem to care at all.

"Being sexy and twenty-two doesn't make him the boss of us, R, it pisses me off that Marius thought we needed a babysitter," she said. For some reason Grantaire loved it when she pulled out her need for independence, although she wasn't ready for it. It was the exact same way she used to rant to him about her parents, from the time they were young children until everything got all complicated, with her getting kicked out of her house, and falling for Marius, etc.

"Let's just be thankful it was him and not one of Marius' other weird debate team friends," Grantaire said, flipping out his own cell phone and putting Enjolras' number in it; Eponine rolled her eyes dramatically.

"You need to stop pretending you don't like his friends. I know you do," she said. He did get along with Marius' friends, but couldn't agree on anything with them, and they were all seniors, and he was the youngest person at the school. He couldn't exactly just hang out with them.

"It doesn't really matter," he said, texting Enjolras.

_It's Grantaire :) Which class do you have right now? We'll bring you something from the cafe :) _

"You're hopeless, I love you, but you're hopeless," Eponine said, smiling and shaking her head. Grantaire put his arm around her and they walked towards the café.


	3. Chapter 3

Enjolras took a painfully long time to reply, which infuriated and stressed out Grantaire and cracked Eponine up. They were sitting at the café, with Grantaire checking his phone every two seconds, and then checking Eponine's.

"My boss says if you two don't buy something I have to kick you out, which I'd really rather not do," Eponine and Grantaire looked up. The guy looked familiar, like one of the debate team boys. He was very attractive, with dark curls and creamy skin and hazel eyes. Grantaire noticed that Eponine seemed slightly uncomfortable in his presence, and he just seemed delighted to have an excuse to be talking to them.

"And exactly how are you going to go about kicking us out?" Eponine said, innocently smiling, but clearly implying something. The guy had to stop for a moment to think about how to respond; Eponine had a way of saying things that people didn't know how to respond to, and she loved it.

"Well there are a number of methods I normally use," he said, tilting his head and smiling at her. She just looked at her nails, not even noticing the way he was looking at her.

Grantaire coughed, trying to dissolve the tension between them, "I'm sorry, sir, but do we know you from somewhere?" he asked. The guy smiled again, his eyes still following the way Eponine was finger-combing her hair.

"Perhaps, I know a lot of people. I'm Courfeyrac," he took a seat at the third seat at the table. Eponine sighed.

"Do you even work here?" she asked, and Grantaire watched his face crumple for a minute but then resume its confident, flirtatious composure.

"Gosh, Eponine, don't you ever listen when I'm talking?" he asked. Grantaire picked up his phone again to check if Enjolras had texted him.

"No," she said, smiling.

_Well I suppose if I can't immediately persuade you into becoming extremely studious through one text message, a coffee won't hurt. _

Grantaire could feel his heard beat faster, and held back the urge to text back 'you can persuade me to do anything Eponine was being difficult.'

"We'll have a coffee!" Grantaire said, hoping that then Courfeyrac would leave and he could bombard Eponine with questions about him and tell her that Enjolras texted him back. Courfeyrac nodded and went back to make their coffee.

"_Eponine!" _Grantaire whispered, "Who _is _that and what happened between you two?" he asked, still remembering the way he couldn't stop smiling, the way she had taken no notice.

"We hooked up. It was a one-time thing, I mean technically a few times, but you know. It's totally over, a no-emotions kind of thing," she said, "We barely knew each other's names," she laughed. Grantaire felt awful for him, not that Eponine and him weren't going through the exact same thing, but it was still incredibly painful to watch someone in a state like that interact with the one they can't have.

"Well he knew your name, and has probably written it in his diary a million times with little hearts around it and a picture of your future wedding," he said, laughing. Eponine looked at him like he was crazy.

"That's nonsense. It was freshman year. He's been with like, every girl at this school. I had almost forgotten," she said; Grantaire could almost feel the boy's pain as Eponine talked so freely about how she didn't care.

"Eponine, I guess you didn't see how he was looking at you, and I mean he's hot- not Enjolras-hot but he's _hot_."

Eponine rolled her eyes, gesturing to the fact that her admirer was returning with Enjolras' coffee.

"Thank you," Grantaire said politely.

"You are _very_ welcome," he said, his eyes almost begging Eponine to look at him, but still smiling.

"Have a nice day, _Courf_," she said, standing up and taking the coffee from his hands and smiling. Grantaire smiled, thinking that Eponine's smile and wishing him a good day probably made his day.

"Hey, are you two dating?" he asked, just as Eponine had turned her back to him and Grantaire was still staring at the text message from Enjolras. To answer, they both just laughed, "I didn't think so. See you 'round, Eponine, and nice meeting you, er, sorry I forgot your name," he said.

"I didn't tell you, I'm Grantaire," he said, sort of flattered that this senior cared enough to ask his name.

"Well, take care of Eponine, 'Taire!" he said, cheerfully heading over to another table as Eponine grabbed Grantaire's hand and quickly led him out of the building.


	4. Chapter 4

"So how was class, Enjy?" Eponine asked casually as she handed Enjolras his coffee, which Grantaire was far too nervous to do without spilling it on something.

"It was fine, Eponine. Don't call me that…" he answered, unsure of what to ask next, since presumably they hadn't gone to class, "how was getting my coffee?" he asked, running a hand through his curls; Grantaire held his breath.

Eponine laughed, "It was awful; you put us through hell, getting your stupid _coffee_. What do you expect?" she put her arm around Grantaire, "it was so cold…" she said, and Enjolras half-smiled and shoved her playfully. Grantaire really envied how Eponine could just talk to people like this, even people like Enjolras.

"What about you, Grantaire? How was your day?" Enjolras asked, looking straight into Grantaire's eyes.

"My day was amazing," he said, looking up at Enjolras' beautiful face, wanting so badly to reach up and touch his bouncy curls, his flawless skin.

"How so?" Enjolras asked, shifting his four textbooks from one arm to the other as Grantaire just smiled at him.

"Well I heard the news that you were going to be our temporary roommate, and it's cloudy, and I love cloudy days…" he said, his voice trailing off, and suddenly thinking that he was talking too much. He looked at Enjolras, who appeared to almost be holding back a smile. Grantaire felt a flutter in his stomach at the thought that Enjolras might be smiling at something he said.

"So am I going to be dropping either of you somewhere?" he asked, and Eponine glared at the tree in front of us.

"We can _drive," _she said, grabbing Enjolras' coffee from his hands without permission, sipping it, and then handing it back to him.

"I was just asking, I wasn't aware that you had a car," he said, examining his coffee as if Eponine might have done something to it.

"It's fine," Eponine said, not telling him that they in fact did not own a car, Marius had taken the car that was shared between the three of them.

"Well I don't have debate team practice until Friday, so I guess it'll just be the three of us at the apartment," he said, sounding rather irritated, which Eponine found amusing and Grantaire just sighed; barely ten minutes in Enjolras' presence and he was already getting annoyed.

"What do you guys do at debate? Just argue like all day?" Eponine asked, and Enjolras just nodded. "Grantaire's good at that. He should join your little club."

"Well, that's not a horrible idea, would you, Grantaire? We need a replacement since Marius is out being an idiot for the next two weeks," he said, looking hopefully at Grantaire.

Eponine smirked at the 'Marius being an idiot' comment, and Grantaire looked over and smiled at her.

He shook his head, looking down, and then looked up to see Enjolras' expression, which was not nearly as disappointed as he had hoped, "we've already had this conversation," Grantaire said, flipping his hair out of his eyes. Enjolras nodded.

"I recall," He said, "you showed up to a tutorial in paint-splattered jeans and told me assertively that you had no interest in anything university had to offer," Grantaire couldn't help but smile. Enjolras _remembered_. Not only that, he remembered precisely what happened. Grantaire had to turn away in attempt to hide his huge smile, but failed.

"What are you smiling about?" Enjolras asked, so blunt and clueless it was adorable. Eponine laughed almost out loud, and put her head on Grantaire's shoulder.

"He'll be there," she said, the two of them giggling insanely, while Enjolras just stared straight ahead, thinking that considering that maybe staying with them might not be so horrible after all.


	5. Chapter 5

"I can't believe you're making me do this," said Grantaire, taking a beer out of the refrigerator.

"I can't believe this is the thanks I'm getting," she said, rummaging through Grantaire's closet, trying to choose the best outfit, which was almost impossible considering everything he owned had paint on it.

"Yeah, I know, but there's gonna be me and a bunch of really hot seniors and _him_. You really think that's gonna go over well?" Grantaire asked, and Eponine just laughed, throwing a black button-up shirt at him.

"Marius and I are really hot seniors; you don't have a problem with us. The guys are great, you'll have a great time," she said, as he pulled off his baggy white shirt with holes and paint splatters on it and started to button up the nice one she had chosen, and had another sip of his beer, "and stop drinking, for god's sake. You can't be slurring your words when you're yelling at _really hot seniors_," she laughed.

Enjolras strutted through the front door, without knocking, and Grantaire's face when bright red since his shirt was only half buttoned. Eponine went into the back bedroom to go try and find a hairbrush.

He tried frantically to do up the remaining buttons on his shirt, but his hands were shaky and it wasn't working. He looked up at Enjolras for a moment, preparing to smile and casually laugh off the fact that he was struggling so much with his shirt buttons, but something in Enjolras' eyes wouldn't let him. Enjolras was staring at him, too, running his hands through his hair, but not breaking eye contact. Grantaire couldn't tear his eyes away from the beautiful blonde, and in that moment couldn't stop thinking about how he wanted nothing more than to tear of his red jacket and press him against himself as hard as he could, and run _his_ fingers through that golden hair. And, for a moment, Enjolras wanted to let him.

Enjolras walked towards Grantaire, slowly, and Grantaire's hands fell from fidgeting with his shirt buttons to his sides, and Enjolras reached towards him, "let me help you with that," he said, and slowly did his buttons up; Grantaire was sure Enjolras could feel the heat coming of his body, and he couldn't breathe. He could feel the tips of Enjolras' hair brush the soft stubble on his face, could feel Enjolras' careful fingertips brushing against his chest.

When he had finished, he pulled away and stood up, his face inches from Grantaire's.

"Thanks," Grantaire whispered; Enjolras quickly walked away when Eponine entered.

"Grantaire, come here. Your hair looks like a rat's nest," she said, and Enjolras smiled uncomfortably, running both his hands through his hair again.

"I'll wait outside in the car," said Enjolras, and as soon as he walked out the door Eponine ran up and hugged Grantaire.

"That was adorable as fuck," she said, pulling away and aggressively brushing out his knotted dark hair.

"Ep, we've gone over this. You can't use adorable and fuck in the same sentence," he said, tossing his hair out of his eyes, and messing it up again. Eponine just smiled and opened the front door for Grantaire, gesturing to where Enjolras' car was waiting.

"Whatever, anyways, you're still blushing," she laughed, pushing him out the door. He pressed his hands to his face to try and get it to cool down, but didn't have much luck.

He walked down the stairs and climbed into the car, which was so much cleaner than the car he was used to, and the classical music station was on.

"Nervous?" Enjolras asked, putting his hand on Grantaire's shoulder, making him blush intensely all over again.

"No, it was your idea. So if I fuck up, it's on you," he said, as the car pulled out of the parking lot and Enjolras took his hand from Grantaire's shoulder to the steering wheel. He half-smiled, and for a moment was concerned that Grantaire might say something out of place. They drove all the way out to a little café, called the Musain. They didn't talk much in the car, just listened to the music and wondered about the possible ways this meeting could go. As they walked into the café, everyone turned to look at them, almost instinctively. A few people smiled at Enjolras, who just nodded politely at them.

"Everyone, this is Grantaire. Marius' roommate and his temporary replacement," he said, and Grantaire looked around, suddenly very relieved that Eponine had forced him to change his clothes. Most people in the room recognized Grantaire, or knew of him, and Enjolras seemed to pick up on this, putting his hand reassuringly on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey, it's Eponine's little boyfriend!" it was the cute curly-haired boy from the café earlier, who walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulder, as Enjolras walked away to go talk to some guy with light hair and glasses who carried a book. Grantaire was relieved that he knew someone, but still wished Enjolras hadn't walked away.

"Forgot my name already?" Grantaire asked, and Courfeyrac shook his head, smiling.

"So how's rooming with Enjy going, is he a pain in the ass or what?" he asked, walking Grantaire over to a table with two other guys. Courfeyrac was so welcoming, and so fun; Grantaire really wished Eponine would pay more attention to him, since he seemed like he would be good for her.

"Or what…" Grantaire said, unable to contain his smile. He sat down between Courfeyrac and a boy who looked about his age, with long braided hair with flowers in it. Courfeyrac smirked.

"Well I'm glad you two are more compatible than we are. I've lived with him for four years and haven't slept through the night once with all that practicing and studying that he somehow is required to do in the middle of the fucking night," Courfeyrac said, and Grantaire just laughed, "Maybe you should permanently change places with me." Grantaire thought for a moment, because that could actually be ideal; except that Eponine would kick his ass.

"I don't know," Grantaire said; his cheeks blushed a little, and Courfeyrac didn't notice but the other boy seemed to; he leaned slightly closer to Grantaire.

"Grantaire, do you think Enjolras is _cute?_" he asked softly, "I'm Jehan, by the way."

Grantaire leaned back in his chair and flipped his hair out of his eyes, having no idea how to respond to that, "I, well-" he started, "I wouldn't say cute, but I mean _obviously _he's attractive, and I guess you agree," he said, rather proud of himself for handling that question smoothly. Courfeyrac put his arm around Grantaire, laughing.

"Oh no, another hopeless sweet young boy has fallen for our marble leader," Courfeyrac said, patting Grantaire almost sympathetically on his back.

"I haven't _fallen _for anyone. I just said he's attractive, that's all," he said, thinking to himself _that most certainly is not all_. Jehan smiled at him.

"I don't know if I'd say hopeless, either. When's the last time Enj brought an inexperienced freshman in here?" Jehan said, adjusting the flowers in his hair and looking at Grantaire curiously with big, blue eyes.

"I don't know, kid. Just don't get your hopes up. He hasn't dated anyone since he's been here," Courfeyrac said, almost as if he was convincing himself.

"I haven't either," Grantaire said. It was true; possibly it was because no one wanted to date a seventeen year old, but he doubted that. He had hooked up once or twice, but no real relationships.

"Yeah, but you've only been here a few months. Enj has had four years," Courfeyrac said. Jehan gave him a look as if to stay _stop crushing his dreams_, but then returned to his previous sweet look.


	6. Chapter 6

Enjolras stood on a chair, and informed everyone that they had a competition coming up. People asked questions, while Grantaire just leaned back in his chair, put his head on his hand, and watched as Enjolras captured the attention of everyone in the café, even those who were not there for the meeting. Then, the boy with the glasses and light brown hair got up to take his place, and started talking; Enjolras came and sat at the table with Grantaire, Jehan, and Courfeyrac.

"Nice speech," Grantaire, said, smiling at Enjolras, while Jehan and Courfeyrac looked at each other, smirking.

"Grantaire, you need to pay attention. Combeferre is speaking," Enjolras said, refusing to look at Grantaire, who sulked. Jehan patted his arm, sympathetically, and smiled at him.

Grantaire almost fell asleep for the remainder of the meeting, while different people stood up and said different things, mostly arguments about issues that he didn't care too much about. The only thing that kept him awake was Enjolras' intelligent interjections at their flawed arguments. Grantaire loved the way he spoke with such confidence, the way his eyes burned with passion at with every word he said, the way he ran his hands through his hair when he was frustrated at his colleagues.

Grantaire's hair had fallen in front of his eyes, and the way his head rested in his hand, he looked asleep. "Grantaire, wake up. It's time to go." Enjolras said, shaking the boy's shoulder.

"I'm not asleep, Apollo, I just don't have perfect posture like you and half the people in here," he said, brushing hair out of his eyes and looked at Enjolras.

"What did you just call me?" he asked, suddenly leaning forward to brush Grantaire's hair out of his eyes.

"I-it's just me and Eponine's nickname for you that we made up," he said, smiling as Enjolras' fingertips fell from Grantaire's hair, to his face, and then dropped to the table, his stomach so fluttery he could barely breathe or speak. Enjolras tried his best to make a stern face at Grantaire.

"Don't fall asleep at the next meeting, and I don't like nicknames," he said, getting up from the table. Grantaire noticed that almost everyone had left, except Courfeyrac, who was standing in the corner, on the phone with someone.

"I didn't fall asleep," he said, yawning. Enjolras laughed and held out his hand, standing up.

"You need to go home. You're exhausted."

"You're coming home with me," he said, giggling, and taking Enjolras hand as he slowly got up got up from the table, savoring every moment he got to hold Enjolras' hand before he pulled away. They walked down, got in the car, and drove to Grantaire and Eponine's dorm


	7. Chapter 7

"It's Friday night!" Eponine exclaimed as Grantaire and Enjolras walked in the door; music was playing so loudly it was amazing the neighbors hadn't called the police on her "I made martinis!" she smiled and danced into the kitchen. Enjolras sat down on the couch, rubbing his eyes. It was ten p.m., he was exhausted, and Grantaire seemed to be exhausted as well. Were he and Eponine really planning on having their own little mini drinking party?

"Eponine, it's late. Grantaire's tired, I'm tired. Also, he's seventeen and I don't drink," Enjolras said, sighing as Grantaire and Eponine both burst out laughing.

Grantaire ran over to Eponine and put his arm around her, suddenly energetic and not tired at all, "I love you so much!" he said, taking one of the martini glasses and clanking it against Eponine's, both of them spilling a little of their drinks but still laughing.

"You need to _relax_, dude, I'm serious," she said, dancing around and drinking her martini. Enjolras sighed, and pulled out his phone, which had just buzzed.

"No, you're not serious, you're drunk," he said curtly, looking at his new message, from Courfeyrac.

_sorry to bother you and ur little boyfriend X) i lost my keys and cant get into our dorm HELP ME lol again sorry ^-^ _

Enjolras run his hands through his hair, very frustrated, and closed his eyes for a minute.

"Doesn't he look hot when he does that, R?" Eponine teased, Grantaire laughed and nodded, and Enjolras just shook his head and stood up.

"Courf can't get into our dorm room. I have to go, I'll be back. Don't destroy anything," he said, opening the door.

"OMG get him to come back here tell him we're gonna have a group sleepover," Eponine said, running to the kitchen to refill her glass; Grantaire followed her.

"_No_," Enjolras said, slapping his hand to his forehead, but before he could object, Eponine flipped out her cell phone and called Courfeyrac.

"Hey, it's Eponine! Wanna come over? We're having a group sleepover…" she waited for a reply, "Great…yeah of course you can bring people!"

"Eponine_, No_," Enjolras said, taking the cell phone from her hand, "Courf, I'm sorry, Eponine's a little drunk, there's no party…no I don't need help dealing with them I am handling the situation _fine_…I'm coming to let you into your dorm _right now_…" he said, glaring at Eponine, who was giggling, knowing that she had won. "What? Why?" Enjolras asked, "I told you, I can handle it…no, Eponine doesn't need you to come over…Ugh, fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt if you came…no you can't bring _anyone_, jeez Courf…alright see you in a few."

He hung up the phone, glared at Eponine, and then sighed and went into Marius' bedroom. Grantaire went to go follow him; Eponine grabbed his arm and shook her head at him, but he went anyways.

"You should come out into the front room with us, have a drink, it is Friday," Grantaire said, sitting down on Marius' bed next to Enjolras, who sighed.

"Grantaire, I need to study, I have finals next week, and I need to prepare for the next debate team meeting," he said, putting his head in his hands.

"Enj, I think you need to relax a little; I mean I know it's only been a few days that you've been living here, and we barely see you, so it's unfair of me to say that I know you well, but-" he started, but stopped talking when Enjolras turned suddenly to him and grabbed his arm.

"No, Grantaire, I don't need to _relax_, you need to start caring about things," he said, "you're smart, you must be if you graduated high school a year early, and manage to pass your classes without attending them, I don't understand it," he said, tearing his eyes away from Grantaire's, but keeping his hand firmly on his arm.

"I care about things," said Grantaire, unhappy to be such a disappointment to Enjolras.

"Yeah, really?" he asked, "like what, exactly?" looking up at Grantaire's sad eyes again as he brushed his hair from his eyes.

"I care about Eponine, and art, and…" he started, wondering if he should say it, "I'm starting to care about you, and as someone who cares about you I'm telling you that you should relax a little," Grantaire was surprised at himself, and just wanted so badly right now to hold Enjolras tightly in his arms and tell him that he was perfect and needed to stop stressing so much about everything.

"Grantaire…" he said, "that's not…" he started, before standing up and walking to the front room at the sound of the front door opening.

Eponine was dancing and singing to the music she put on as Courfeyrac came in, and Eponine ran up and hugged him.

"Oh, I love this song!" he said, pulling away from her to dance.

"Yeah, I have the best taste in music," she said, spinning around. Grantaire looked at Enjolras, who was rolling his eyes. Courfeyrac took Eponine's hand and spun her into his arms, then spun her out and they kept dancing. Eponine was too drunk to fit her movements into the music and had no dancing experience, but the way Courfeyrac held her hand and moved perfectly, while she just laughed and he smiled was beautiful; maybe there was something there.

Enjolras walked back into the back bedroom, as if there was too much happy energy in the front room for him to deal with. Grantaire saw no other option than to follow him, since he couldn't exactly just stand there watching Eponine dance with Courfeyrac. Enjolras turned around and glared at him.

"I won't bother you; I can just sit here quietly if you want," he said, closing the door behind himself as he followed Enjolras into the back bedroom, "I just feel awkward sitting by myself in the front room, that's all. I'm sorry," he said, looking up at Enjolras hopefully, smiling with wide eyes.

Enjolras nodded and tried to hold back a smile, but failed; "now you know how I feel almost every night when Courf brings some girl over," he said. Grantaire laughed slightly, recalling what Courfeyrac had said earlier at the meeting about Enjolras' restless sleeping habits. "What is it?" Enjolras asked.

"Nothing, it's just-" he smiled, "he said you're the one who doesn't sleep at night, with all your studying and whatnot," he said, and for the first time Enjolras smiled at him; he genuinely smiled.

"I love him, but he's not easy to live with. I can't exactly study at night when he's being _him_." Enjolras said, and Grantaire held out his hand. Eponine's music was more than loud enough to be heard clearly all throughout the house.

"Dance with me," he said; Enjolras got a shocked look on his face for a minute, and then smiled again, the same smile from a minute ago. It was so beautiful, and it made Grantaire feel all warm inside.

"I don't-" he started.

"Oh just shut up and dance you stupid beautiful fuck," Grantaire said, grasping Enjolras' hand and pulling him into his arms. He could feel Enjolras being all tense at first, but then relaxing, and dropping his hands to Grantaire's waist, while swaying to the music. Enjolras was blushing more intensely than he had in his whole life; he rested his head on Grantaire's shoulder and pulled him much closer. Grantaire was surprised, and his whole body was filled with butterflies; he felt that if Enjolras wasn't there holding him so tightly, he would collapse on the floor, and he couldn't stop smiling. He closed his eyes and squeezed Enjolras' shoulders, resting his head against Enjolras' soft curls.

"Thank you," Enjolras said, pulling away only slightly so he could look at Grantaire's blissful face.

"I'd say you're welcome, but I'm not sure what I'm being thanked for," he said, slowly drawing a hand up to Enjolras' face.

Enjolras smiled for a minute before grasping Grantaire's waist and pulling him closer, and then pressing his lips softly against Grantaire's, who pressed back against Enjolras, moving his hands from his face up to his hair and running his hands through it fast, pulling on it just a little. Enjolras flipped Grantaire around and pushed him hard against the wall, running his hands underneath his shirt and then pulling it off. Grantaire ripped Enjolras' shirt open; a few buttons went flying but no one cared. Enjolras bit Grantaire's lower lip, slipping his hands from his back to his ass. Grantaire moaned slightly and flipped them around so that Enjolras was pushed against the wall and went to start unbuttoning his pants.

"Grantaire!" Courfeyrac exclaimed, frantically pushing the door open and then averting his eyes, "I'm sorry-"

"_Damn it, _Courf!" Enjolras hissed, buttoning his pants up and running his hands through his hair, very irritated. Grantaire just blushed.

"Yeah I said sorry, alright?! Eponine passed out!" He said, running back out to the front room as fast as he could, followed by Grantaire.

Courfeyrac collapsed down next to her, holding her limp hand; Grantaire had never seen anyone so worried in his life. He picked her up and put her on the couch.

"She's fine, Courf; she drinks too much sometimes. It's alright, she'll wake up soon. We'll give her some coffee or something, it'll be fine," said Grantaire, suddenly becoming self-conscious that he was still shirtless.

Enjolras emerged from the back bedroom, his hair a mess and his shirt buttoned up crookedly. "Oh my god, what happened? Do we need to take her to the hospital?" he asked, as Courfeyrac checked her pulse.

"She's _fine_. It happens. Jeez, it's like you two have never seen anyone pass out before. Relax, maybe you should go," he said, not wanting to have Enjolras and Courfeyrac fussing over his best friend.

"I am _not_ leaving, Grantaire," Courfeyrac said, "Do you guys have a decent bed for her at least? Or food or stuff for when she wakes up?" he asked, checking her pulse and breathing for the third time in the last ten seconds.

"No, not really, and she sleeps on the couch," Enjolras said, and Courfeyrac sighed, "you should take her to our place, Courf, since you're so worried. We have a decent bed, and food, and coffee, and it's closer to the hospital, so if anything happens…"

Grantaire sighed, but nodded. Even if it wasn't what he wanted, no one was going to take better care of her. Courfeyrac smiled, went to go get a blanket, wrapped her up in it, and carried her out to his car with Grantaire's help.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hi, Courf," Eponine said, slowly lifting her head from how it had been resting against his car window.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said, despite the fact that it was almost midnight, taking his eyes of the road for a minute to look over at Eponine, who had just woken up.

"So where are we going?" she asked, "your place? Are Enjy and R hooking up?" she asked, smiling, "are we gonna hook up?" she asked, and Courfeyrac just laughed.

"Yes, we're going to my place, they're probably hooking up, and we're not unless you agree to forget about Pontmercy and every other guy on this planet, and even so not tonight, you're still really drunk, Ep," he answered, looking at her as he pulled into the parking lot. She had fallen asleep again. He got out of the car, closed the door, went around to the passenger seat, opened the door and picked Eponine up. She obviously wasn't completely asleep, and probably could have walked up the stairs, but he carried her up the three flights of stairs anyways. He lay her down on his bed, since it was the bigger more comfortable one, tucked her in, took her shoes off, and turned the light off before whispering, "You know, Eponine, I think I might love you."

Eponine woke up to the sound of a tea kettle whistling, and loud singing along to 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.' She recognized the room; she'd been there before a few times. _Fuck_, she thought, having no recollection of the previous night and a splitting headache. At least she was still fully clothed, so most likely she hadn't slept with Courf or anything. She walked out of the bedroom slowly; Courfeyrac's terrible singing making her smile just a little. He was dancing as he flipped pancakes, wearing nothing but a towel, his curly hair sand bare chest still wet. She went over to the stereo and turned it down, and he almost jumped around to look at her. She looked awful; her eye makeup had smeared to form dark circles around her eyes, her lips were chapped and flaking, her hair looked like she hadn't brushed it in days, and she was wearing the same clothes from the previous day wrapped in a blanket, but she still looked beautiful to Courfeyrac.

"Sleep well?" he asked, placing a pancake on a plate set on the table, next to a fresh untouched cup of coffee.

"I guess so," she said, sitting down at the small, two-person table, as he pushed the plate and the coffee towards her, "the hell happened?" she asked.

"You passed out while dancing in my arms last night," he said, sitting down. She rolled her eyes.

"You're not gonna put clothes on?" she asked, sipping the coffee and trying to finger comb her hair, but getting her fingers caught in the tangles.

"It's my house, sweetheart," he said, smiling and raising his eyebrows, "anyways, you passed out, and we agreed it would be better for you to be here, you know, in a bed, as opposed to falling off a couch all night, and I actually have stuff in my fridge other than beer."

"That's it? You went through all this trouble just so I would be comfortable for something I wasn't going to remember the next day?" she asked, smirking, "you're sure nothing else happened?"

"Oh, I caught your little friend and my roommate making out," he said, very calmly as Eponine almost spat out her coffee.

"_No fucking way!_" she almost yelled, Courfeyrac just smiled, "who would've guessed, huh? Captain of the debate team and first in the class ended up with my sweet little Grantaire who has just got no fucks to give. Cute," she said, "they'll be good for each other."

"Yeah," he said, smiling but then suddenly looking thoughtful.

"What? You're jealous?" Eponine asked, playfully, but also serious.

"Must be nice to have the one you want feel the same way," he said, examining her face to see if she was picking up on what he was trying to say.

"What are you talking about? Almost every girl at this school is practically in love with you, and the rest would be very open to being with you in some way or another," she said, with the same playful yet serious tone she used previously.

"It's like you said, _almost_ every girl. Would you, Eponine?" he asked, standing up to flip her next pancake.

"Courf, you're the one who ended us, I'm totally cool with us hook-" she started, but he suddenly turned to her, bent down and touched her face softly.

"No, Eponine, I can't do that anymore, not with you. You really have no idea, do you?" he asked, turning and walking away.

"No idea about fucking what?" she yelled after him. He turned around and but his head in his hands for a minute, before answering her.

"You never thought for a minute that maybe it wasn't all about the sex with us? You honestly never stopped to think for a minute and consider that maybe I actually care about you, Eponine?" he asked. She started to say something, but he kept talking; if he didn't get this out now, it was never coming out. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to wake up after every morning after every night we spent together to see you fucking texting Pontmercy? Checking your phone to see if he was wondering where you were? Whenever I would see you two together in the hallway I couldn't stand it Eponine, I couldn't stand watching you chase after this guy who's never going to love you, but then I realized: shit, I'm doing the _exact same _thing! Do you know how much it hurt to wake up every morning with that sliver of hope that you might wake up next to me and feel the same way? That's why I ended it! That's why I can't _do this_ with you, Eponine, 'cause it hurts too much," he said, slapping himself in the forehead.

Eponine just ran up and hugged him, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" she said, pulling away, but squeezing his hand tightly, "and _I know_ how it hurts, so I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to make up for it, Courf."

"It's alright, Ep, it's not your fault," he said, smiling, because it really wasn't her fault. He just wanted to make her stop hurting.

"I know. Shit just happens, and obviously I'll have to get over Marius since he's married now," she said.

He smiled, taking her hand in both of his, "In the meantime, I know you must be hurting terribly. I just want you to know that I'm here. Whatever you need me to be, I will be. Shoulder to cry on, friend, whatever. Maybe one day I'll be something more, we'll see, Eponine, you just have to say the word and I'll be all yours. I just want to be there for you," he said; Eponine felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, I can't even-" she started, bursting into tears. Courfeyrac held her around her shoulders and pressed her head to his chest and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"So what comes next? It's your call," he said, squeezing her tighter as she cried even more.

"I-I think I want to be with you," she said, through tears, "but I don't want you to get hurt, and I still love him," she pulled away and looked into his eyes, which looked hopeful.

"We'll take it slowly," he said, bringing her back into his arms, feeling her nod against his chest, "I promise."

They stood there in silence for a moment, while Eponine calmed down.

"Hey, Ep?" Courfeyrac asked, "Will you come live here?"

She laughed and gave him a weird look, as if she thought he was joking, but then realized he wasn't. She smiled, loving the thought of living with Courfeyrac, but knew she couldn't leave Grantaire alone in her dorm.

"I would, but Grantaire can't exactly be on his own," she said, and Courfeyrac tilted his head to the side, smiling. "What?" she asked.

"It's a crazy idea," he said, "but what if Enjolras moved in with him? Everyone wins, right?" he asked, laughing, because it was a crazy idea, especially for a spur-of-the-moment type thing. Eponine rolled her eyes and then nodded.

"Yeah, alright," she said.

"Is that a _yes_? _Did you just say yes?_" he asked, almost in shock. She laughed, and he picked her up and spun her around, laughing, and happier than he'd felt in a long time.

_Enjy pack your shit up x) Eponines gonna liv with me _

Enjolras woke up, slowly peeled himself away from Grantaire in order to check his phone, and smiled when he saw the text, before showing it to him.

"You're kidding," Grantaire said, sitting up to kiss Enjolras.

"What? You don't want last night to happen every night?" Enjolras asked, crawling back into bed and pulling Grantaire down next to him.

"I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing ever," Grantaire answered, looking up at Enjolras, who looked even more beautiful in the morning. Enjolras shook his head.

"You're terrible," he said, wrapping his arms around Grantaire.

"And I think I might love you, Apollo," said Grantaire.

"It's been a day, and stop calling me that," he said, blushing.

"Whatever, you like it."


	9. Chapter 9

"It's weird, huh?" Eponine said, gathering the few clothes she had from her drawers and shoving them into a bag. Grantaire laughed, lying on the bed, wearing Enjolras' jacket.

"I guess. If you mean weird as in the best thing that's ever happened to us," he said; Eponine was still unsure about the whole thing. She was so confused, and had spent the last half hour packing and unpacking her things, "other than finding each other, that is."

"Marius is getting back later today," she said hopefully, but then broke eye contact and looked down, sadly, "so is _she_," Eponine threw the bag of her things across the room, and lay down on the bed next to Grantaire.

"_She_ has a name, and I thought we talked about the M word," he replied, sitting up and looking at her sad face.

"I'm trying, R. Really," she said, sighing and closing her eyes, "and I _am _getting better."

"I know you are," he said, taking her hand and pulling her up into an embrace, "I'm still there for you, even though you don't live here anymore, and I know you have Courf, but still," he said; Eponine tried to smile as she pulled away.

"I still don't know if I should go. It seemed like such a perfect idea at the moment, and I really want to, and I know you'd love to live with your new boyfriend, Mr. Perfect…" she trailed off.

"Eponine, you know I'd love you to stay, don't consider my feelings when you're making this decision," he said, meaning it. He was sort of nervous to have Eponine leaving, and he was worried about what would happen if he ever had a break down, but at the same time he knew how good it would be for her.

"I'm not…" she said, getting up off the bed and picking her things up, "and I know it's gonna be amazing. What time is the 'welcome back' party again?" she asked.

"It's in like two hours," he answered, "I think. I so don't wanna go…"

"But you'll get to hang out with Mr. Perfect," she said, smiling.

"_No,_ I get to watch him yell at Marius for getting married too young, and then they'll argue, and ugh," he complained.

"Marius _is_ getting married too young," Eponine said, "and you're always talking about how hot he looks when he's arguing. Stop complaining."

"There's no right or wrong age when it comes to love," he said, smiling, as Eponine rolled her eyes, "and sorry, I really shouldn't be complaining about this around you," he said, sitting up.

"It's been four days, Grantaire, and suddenly you're the expert on love," she teased, walking over to stand in the door, "jeez, you're just like Marius. I'll see you in an hour or so."

"There's nothing wrong with letting yourself be happy!" he said, as she walked out the door, laughing.

Eponine really was nervous though, scared she would become upset at seeing Marius and Cosette together and need Courfeyrac to take her home, which he would gladly do, but she still felt guilty about the whole situation. She walked over to her new dorm room, unpacked her clothes that she had brought, and went to go get ready. Enjolras and Courf were already at the café, getting everything set up for the party along with a few of the other debate team guys. She showered, blow dried and straightened her hair, and put on a pretty peach colored dress that brought out her olive skin tones. For some reason she wanted to look pretty, as if it would make a difference somehow.

"You look amazing," she jumped around, startled, to see Courfeyrac standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the wall.

"I-um-thanks," she said, wondering how long he had been there, "I-," she started, but then just shook her head and smiled, "is it time to go already? Oh, and you too."

"No, it's not; you still have half an hour," he said, walking into the bedroom, "you know, we don't have to go if you don't want," he said, but he really did want to go. It wasn't just that; he wanted to go _with Eponine_, and he wanted her to be happy about it, but it probably wouldn't happen like that.

"Enjolras will kill you," she said, smiling and laughing slightly. It was so impossible to be unhappy around him, despite the intensity of her dread at attending this party, "besides, _you want to go_. I can tell."

He smiled at the way she had relaxed and was smiling, "can you? Anything else you can tell?"

She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him with big eyes, "I can tell that you're happy right now, but I don't know why," she said, as he smiled, looking down at her and pushing hair out of her face.

"I'm happy because it's our first time really going out in public together, even though we're not really _together_, and I'm happy that you're officially moving in," he replied, smiling and closing his eyes as he squeezed her tightly for a moment and then pulled away.

"Congratulations on having such a wonderful day," she teased, following him into the front room.

"I'm serious Eponine, we don't have to go. I'm happy to just sit here and watch a movie and text Marius that I'm sick and am forcing you to take care of me. I don't care," he said, turning around to face her. She just smiled and grabbed his jacket off the table, starting to put it on.

"You used to be a lot more fun," she replied, smirking as he tilted his head at her and raised his eyebrows, grinning.

"That sounds like a challenge," he said, and she laughed. He pulled the jacket off of her and picked her up like a baby, "I am _so much fun_, and by the way, we don't have like twenty minutes before the party, we're late already. I just wanted to spend more time with you, _alone._"


	10. Chapter 10

"They're late. I wonder if Eponine decided not to come," Grantaire said, holding Enjolras' hand as the two of them walked in the door. The two of them were late also, having been a little preoccupied in the car. Enjolras hadn't let go of Grantaire's hand the entire time they had been there.

"That is ridiculous. You can't just _decide_ not to come to things like this. Do you know how much planning went into this? Planning that Courfeyrac helped me with? I'm going to call him right now before Marius gets here I swear to god-,"

Grantaire kissed him firmly and then pulled away, squeezing his hand, "_relax_, Apollo. It'll be fine; don't worry, I can help with anything Courf was supposed to do if he doesn't show up," he said, reassuringly.

Enjolras shook his head, pulling out his phone; Grantaire felt hurt that Enjolras didn't trust him with co-hosting Marius' party, "sorry it's just…" he started, trying to apologise but then giving up.

_Courf, where are you? You and Eponine have exactly two minutes to get over here before more people start arriving_. Enjolras texted, Grantaire looked over his shoulder as the door opened and Courfeyrac and Eponine entered. He grabbed Enjolras' hand.

"I told you it was going to be fine, Enjy," he smiled, and Enjolras briefly squeezed his hand before letting go and walking over to Eponine and Courfeyrac.

"You're late," he scolded.

"Congrats on figuring that out," Eponine teased, holding Courfeyrac's arm, "it's my fault. I was being a little bitch about leaving," she laughed.

"Sweetheart, nothing is your fault. Enjo just needs to calm down, that's all," he said, playfully.

"I guess I'm the only one who knows what _be here thirty minutes early means_," he snapped. Grantaire walked over and wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"We were late too," he whispered softly, and Enjolras relaxed slightly but still glared at Courfeyrac as the front doors opened and Marius and Cosette entered.

Eponine held onto Courfeyrac's arm as if to keep herself from falling over as she examined the two of them together for the first time. She bit her lip to keep from showing how much she was hurting on the outside, and Courfeyrac put his hand over hers protectively, "we don't have to stay," he whispered, but Eponine shook her head fiercely.

Cosette looked stunning, with her long floral dress and curly blonde hair, the bright smile on her face. Marius looked happier than Eponine had ever seen him, and felt her bottom lip tremble. She tried to force a smile, knowing that in a minute she would have to go up and hug and congratulate the two of them while they threw loving glances at each other. She squeezed Courfeyrac's arm tighter. Grantaire watched Eponine closely, noticing how hurt she looked. Enjolras and Courfeyrac walked over to go and greet the two of them, while Eponine went to go sit down at a table alone; Grantaire followed her.

"She's _perfect_. I'm gonna throw up," Eponine muttered bitterly, not taking her eyes off Marius.

"You can still go home. We'll all understand."

"Marius and his flawless girlfriend won't _understand_," she whined.

"Eponine, we can let them make their own assumptions," he offered.

"I hate my life."

"No. You hate today," he told her, looking at the group of the four of them. They all looked so happy, except for the occasional glances Courfeyrac kept throwing at Eponine, and here the two of them were, sitting moping in the corner.

"I don't hate today. I love today; it might be one of the last times I see Marius, since he and his wife are probably going to move away to go live together somewhere," she said, feeling tears welling up in her eyes and doing her best to push them back.

"_Eponine_," Grantaire said, "you _need _to stop this. Do you want me to drive you back to your place? I don't mind," he insisted. She thought about it for a moment, considering whether she would rather Marius see her crying, or make his own assumptions about why she had to leave.

She nodded, looking up so that her tears wouldn't fall, and hating herself for being so weak, "could you? God, Grantaire, I'm sorry, I just, I can't-,"

"It's okay, Eponine. It's okay, don't worry about it," he told her, as the two of them made their way over to the door, walking past the other group of four as more people began to come in. Grantaire grabbed Enjolras' hand and whispered, "I have to take Eponine home. I'll be back."

"Okay," he replied, noticing Eponine's distraught expression and deciding it was better to not ask questions at the moment.

Eponine took his hand as the two of them slipped out the door, mostly unnoticed, and she wiped away her tears when she thought that no one was watching them. When they got in the car and started driving, she was crying so hard she could barely talk.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I didn't think it was going to hurt that much. I thought I was getting better. I thought I was getting over it. I had this picture in my head where I would see them together and-," she gushed, out of breath.

"Don't apologize. It's just me."

"It's finally real. Now I know there really isn't chance at all, and it _hurts, _Grantaire, it really, really hurts," she sobbed. He put a hand on her shoulder, "there was never a chance. I'm such an idiot, I _love _him, R, and it hurts so bad and I can't make it stop," she whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks as more streamed down her face.

"It'll be over soon," he said, "you're accepting it, it'll just get easier from here, Eponine," he assured her, as he pulled into the parking lot, "are you sure you're gonna be alright here by yourself? I can stay."

"Nah, I'll be fine," she forced a smile, and then laughed as more tears fell from her eyes, "don't spend your day worrying about me. You deserve to be this happy, I really am happy for you. And don't let Courf come home to take care of me, I'll feel so guilty," she said.

"I can't tell him what to do, Eponine," he said, as she stepped out of the car, choking on tears, "Eponine?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You're beautiful. You deserve to be happy too," he said, closing the passenger door and driving away as she staggered up her room, holding her breath so that people in the surrounding rooms wouldn't hear her crying. She fell down on the couch, clutching a pillow so hard her fingernails turned white, unable to hold in her sobs anymore. She was so incredibly sick of feeling like this; it was like she had been in denial for years, and only just gotten out of it. She held back the urge to phone Grantaire back and tell him that she wasn't going to be okay, that she needed him to be here and tell her it wasn't going to hurt forever. She then felt her phone ring, the familiar ringtone she had set for Marius' texts.

_Eponine where are you? Courf is super worried. I didn't even know you two knew each other, and Enjolras and Grantaire are dating apparently? Wtf? _

She sighed and stopped crying for a moment as she considered how to respond. The fact that Courfeyrac was worried about her made her happier than she expected, and she then immediately loathed that about herself.

_I'm fine. Have a nice party. _

She read the message over five times before sending it, feeling more tears well up in her eyes as she got herself off the couch and went to go wash her makeup off, frustrated at the amount of time she had put into looking pretty today, and how it had all gone to waste. Her phone buzzed again, a second after the message was sent.

_sorry Ep, this is Courfeyrac i stole marius' phone cuz i was worried about u. r u ok? should i come home? also how was my marius impression x)? _

She genuinely laughed, and then felt odd for catching herself being legitimately happy over this. She typed out about four responses before deciding which to choose.

_Your impression was flawless. Im ok, u don't need to come home, im just hanging out in our dorm room._

She grabbed a paper towel to forcefully wipe the smudged makeup off her face, leaving her eyes red and swollen, and her skin irritated. Again, the reply was instantaneous.

_i still love the sound of 'our dorm room.' also i was wondering double date you me enjy and taire what do you think what do you think itll be fun will you go_

She laughed; it did sound appealing, but might end in her being emotional, which she really wanted to avoid.

_Courf, I ditched a party today to go cry over guy who never loved me. How can you possibly want to take me out_

She sighed, digging through her bag and fishing out a big pair of comfortable sweatpants and tank top and pulling her dress off to change.

_ill pick u up at six. c u then, beautiful ;) _


	11. Chapter 11

_(sorry i took forever to update 3 please review!) _

Eponine could hear waves crashing on the ocean, and couldn't help but smile as she climbed out of the car and Courfeyrac told her to keep her eyes closed, "fuck you. This is ridiculous, I'm not seven years old, Courfeyrac," Eponine laughed, as she reluctantly closed her eyes and he picked her up like a little child.

"Hey. I would _never _treat a seven year old like I treat you. Shut up and close your eyes. I know you're peeking. I can see parts of your beautiful eyes flickering in the sunlight," he said. She closed them fully and he began to walk onto the sand.

"That's the cheesiest fucking line I've ever fucking heard," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck but keeping her eyes closed.

"You just said fuck three times in two sentences," he commented, and she threw her head back, laughing.

"What are you implying?" she laughed, opening one eye for a second but then closing it when he caught her immediately.

He laughed, "nothing, Ep, jeez, I swear to god your mind is worse than mine."

"That's _impossible_. Can I open my eyes now?" she demanded.

"I've walked like three steps. What do you think the answer is?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's 'Courfeyrac needs to learn how to walk faster,'" she teased.

"Sweetheart, that doesn't make sense."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Four times," he teased, smiling down at her frustrated face with her eyes squeezed shut. Watching the way the sunlight dripped down onto it; even with her smeared makeup from earlier and baggy sweatpants she still looked beautiful. Distracted, he tripped and the two of them fell into the damp sand. She opened her eyes and fell onto his chest, laughing.

"Last time you're carrying me anywhere," she smiled, looking up at the sky. It was a nice place they were in, she felt considerably happy especially since he had refused to tell her where they were going when he picked her up. She did love the beach, but never recalled telling him that, which means he must have asked someone. She blushed.

He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile too, "that's really too bad, I love carrying you."

She relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment, moving her hand in the damp sand and feeling Courfeyrac's fast beating heart against her head. "Thank you," she said.

He squeezed her hand and closed his eyes, praying that this would be it, that she wouldn't start talking about Marius or something like that. Then he felt guilty for thinking like that; it was enough just to be here with her, to be the one who makes her happy. She didn't let go, and he felt his heart skip a beat, "what for?"

"For making my shitty day amazing," she sighed, "I don't know why you put up with my crap."

He took a deep breath, looking out into the ocean, "except that you do know," he whispered, feeling his face heat up as she sighed again and shook her head.

She shifted her head on his chest, not knowing what to say. She did know, she knew exactly why he wanted so badly for her to be happy, even if it hurt him. She considered how he way he had never really given up on her since their first night together, four years ago, how she had snuck out of bed in the early morning to get back to her apartment and see Marius. Things had changed so much since then; four years ago she would never have expected her life to be the way it was now, still in love with the same boy she had loved since childhood, except that he was married now. And here she was now, lying on the beach with a guy who had actually managed to make her happy after one of the most painful days of her life. She couldn't stop smiling, despite how happy she felt. "Say it," she said.

"What's the point in stating the obvious?" he asked, in a way that made it sound like it was not a question at all, but a painful fact, "do you want to go swimming?" he asked, standing up slowly and taking her hand, the two of them running up to the water.

She laughed, loving the feel of the freezing water on her feet. There was almost no one else here, and the blissful expression on Courfeyrac's face was priceless. He never let go of her hand, even when the waves halfway knocked her over. They stood waist-deep in the freezing water in street clothes, but they didn't think consider the cold, or what to do afterwards, considering Eponine hadn't brought extra clothes. She forcefully splashed water in his face, then let go of his hand and swam away into the deeper water, giggling. He laughed, standing in shock for a minute as he watched her gracefully slip away, before chasing after her.

He just managed to grab her hand and stop her, softly splashing water into her face, the only dry part of her body at that point, "you're still gorgeous."

She smiled, feeling drips of water slide down her face, not having felt this genuinely happy as long as she could remember. It felt so right, standing here amidst the crashing waves, laughing and holding hands with a boy who actually cared about her. She couldn't help but smile at his sweet face, the way he couldn't stop grinning at her, the way the water was dripping from his curls into his bright eyes. Without thinking, she leaned forward and kissed him. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and pulling them closer.

She pulled away, surprised at herself but smiling, "I'm sorry," she said.

He kissed her forehead, and looked down at her flustered expression, lifting one hand to her flushed cheek, "why?"

She sighed, and then rolled her eyes and reached up and kissed him again, "I don't know." He picked her up again, carrying her out onto the sand, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and watched the colors of the sunset flicker on his soaking face and hair. He put her down gently on the sand down and lay down next to her, slipping one arm around her waist.

"Eponine…" he started, but she reached up and pulled him onto her, kissing him deeply before he could continue. He kissed her back; it was so different than the other times they had been together. It felt _real_, it felt like she cared about him the way he did about her.

"What time are Enjolras and Grantaire getting here?" she whispered, out of breath as he moved down and kissed her neck.

"Twenty minutes ago," he replied, looking up at her, suddenly concerned, but shrugging it off as he kissed her again and she ran her fingers through his curls. She smirked as she pulled his soaked shirt off, tossing it into the sand as he shifted halfway on top of her, pressing them as close as he could with the arm he had wrapped around her waist.

They heard a car pull up and looked up, then smiled at each other. Eponine looked over to the car; it was Enjolras.'

"I guess this is my karma for walking in on them. You know when you passed out," he teased, sitting up. She punched him playfully and then got a horrible feeling in her stomach as Grantaire staggered out of the car. They couldn't see him too well from where they were sitting, but he looked injured. Courfeyrac stood up, taking Eponine's hand as the two of them ran up to him. His one eye was swollen and bruised, and both were red and puffy, his hands shaking.

"_What happened?" _Eponine asked, "Are you okay?" she ran up, hugging him and then pulling back to examine his swollen eye.

"_I'm _fine," he snapped, slightly irritated sounding, and then a tear rolled down his face, "Enj is in the hospital. It's horrible, we have to go now," he stammered.

Courfeyrac put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him; he looked ready to fall over, "Grantaire, what happened?" he demanded, as Grantaire turned abruptly and got back in the car.

"I fucking told you. Enj is in the hospital," he replied, as the other two climbed in the car and he started the engine.

"No way are you driving like this. Move over," Eponine said, getting out and opening the door of the driver's seat as Grantaire reluctantly shifted over to the passenger seat. She then looked over at him, and placed her hand gently on his shaking arm, "how did Enjolras end up in the hospital? I'm not driving until you explain."

He took a deep breath and looked out the window as he answered, "There were these guys harassing some homeless man. Enj went up and punched the one guy, and then this other guy pulled a knife on him, and then the police showed up and tried to break it up but the guys were getting away so Enj punched this cop to go after them and then he pretty much passed out. It was so horrible-can we _please _go now?" he begged, as Eponine started the car. "So I called an ambulance, and got him to the hospital but _those assholes wouldn't fucking let me in to see him_. They insisted its family only. I fucking hate-,"

"He doesn't have any family that'd come out here to see him; he's managed to piss pretty much all of them off," Courfeyrac mumbled.

"Yeah that's why I picked you up. You've known him your whole life; that _has_ to count. Oh _god_, Eponine, drive faster," he demanded, burying his face in his hands. Eponine squeezed his hand.

"It's alright. He'll be fine, R, don't worry. You'll see him," she said, almost whispering.

"What if he doesn't make it? I can't even-," he started, his hand, which Eponine noticed was deeply cut, was shaking intensely.

"He's gonna be okay. He won't give up. He's _Enjolras_," Courfeyrac assured him, reaching forward and squeezing Grantaire's shoulder while he pulled out his phone, "I'm gonna call everyone."

Eponine looked over at Grantaire, who nodded his head, "You look pretty bad too, We should pull over," she said.

"_No_," he replied coldly, and then softened, "Eponine, I love him so much, I don't know what I'd do if-,"

She shook her head, "Don't say that. He'll be fine," she said, wishing she could make him believe it.


	12. Chapter 12

"He's in surgery. Should be out soon. Then we'll see. Go wait over there; we'll call you as soon as possible."

Grantaire, squeezing Eponine's hand firmly, nodded his head and slumped over on the couch. While they were waiting, none of them said anything. Grantaire leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to not cry. He couldn't let Enjolras see him like this, especially in the state he was in. Eventually, Marius and Cosette arrived, followed by Jehan and a few of the other boys from Enjolras' debate team. All of them shot brief sympathetic looks at Grantaire, before taking a seat and staring at the wall, not speaking.

"You can go see your friend now."

Grantaire stood up faster than he had in his whole life, leading the way while Eponine never let go of his hand as they followed a nurse through the hospital. Grantaire felt his stomach turn over at seeing him like this. His strong, confident Apollo, with closed, swollen eyes and hooked up to numerous different machines. His face was peaceful looking, in a deep sleep, and despite the deep gashes and bruises on his face he still looked beautiful.

Grantaire fell to his knees at the side of the bed, taking Enjolras' limp hand in his, kissing it and then holding it against his face. Tears fell from his face and rolled down Enjolras' hand. Eponine knelt down next to him, while Cosette turned and buried her face in Marius' chest. Jehan placed the flowers he had brought on the table next to the bed.

"Enjy," Grantaire whispered, kissing Enjolras' hand again and pressing it more firmly against his face, his voice cracking, "Enjy, please-please wake up."

"He'll wake up soon," Eponine assured him, but Grantaire was barely even in the room anymore. Both of his eyes were shut and tears were flowing down his face, his hands shaking as he squeezed Enjolras' hand.

"I know," he whispered, feeling uncertain.

"Can someone please explain to me what happened?" Marius asked. Courfeyrac took his arm and dragged him out of the room, followed by everyone except Grantaire and Eponine.

"He's probably dreaming about you," she said, trying to smile as she pulled up two chairs next to the bed, sitting down in one, while Grantaire just stayed on the floor.

He forced a smile, "thinking about me and how I couldn't have _thought_ during the situation. How I could have just taken the other way to the beach, could have kept driving when he insisted on pulling over, or could have done _something_. I really do love him so much, I would have done anything, and I was so useless…"

She shook his shoulder hard, forcing him to look away from Enjolras for a second and acknowledge her, "It's not your fault. He's going to be fine. He loves you too."

He shook his head, looking down at Enjolras hand that he was holding in both of his, "he doesn't love me, not like I love him anyways. Not that he should. _God, Enjolras, just fucking wake up," _he hissed, placing Enjolras' hand gently down on the blanket before brushing his hair out of his face and leaving his hand there, still shaking a little but calmer than before.

"He loves you, and he should," Eponine said softly, rubbing Grantaire's back, watching his unsteady hand on Enjolras' cheek.

"He's still so beautiful," Grantaire smiled, scooting his chair closer to the bed.

Eponine sighed, and went out to join the others in the front room, while Grantaire stayed. When she arrived, Cosette ran up and hugged her. She was startled for a minute, having never spoken a word to this girl, who was now holding back tears. She softened and hugged Cosette back, "I'm a little worried," she admitted.

"He looks really bad," Jehan whispered, looking down at his lap.

"Grantaire's still in there?" Cosette asked, still holding Eponine tightly.

"I think he's gonna stay until Enjolras wakes up," she said, shaking her head and pulling away from Cosette but still holding her hands.

"And if he doesn-," Marius started, also holding back tears.

"I swear to god if you finish that sentence-," Courfeyrac interrupted, standing up.

"I'm sorry! I'm just as concerned as everyone is! I can't help it and if-" Marius stood up also.

"Then go fucking be concerned somewhere else. Enj is gonna be _fine_."

"Oh shut the hell up, stop pretending you're not just here for Eponine-."

"_What did you just say?_" he almost yelled.

"He's my best friend. What the hell are you even doing here? What the hell is _everyone _doing here?" Marius demanded. Cosette reached out and grabbed his hand, and he looked down at her and shook his head apologetically.

"He was my roommate for all four shitty years I attended this school. You're gonna tell me you care more? You guys were best friends _in high school_. Don't even try to make it look like-," he started.

"Ha! See? He _was_ your roommate. Then you let him hook up with Grantaire and look what the fuck happened!"

"_You're fucking saying this is my fault?_" he fumed.

Eponine grabbed Courfeyrac's arm firmly, standing up, "_You two idiots are supposed to be best friends_. Everyone here cares about Enjolras. Sit your ass down. I won't fucking listen to this," she hissed, sitting down again. Marius broke down, wiping a tear from his cheek and putting his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Courf," he said.

"It's alright. We all know you didn't mean it," he said, quietly sitting down next to Eponine, who was trying her best to stay calm, but her fingertips were squeezing the arm of the chair so tightly they turned bright white. She sighed and leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes.

"I love you guys," Marius said. Eponine opened her eyes and gave him an odd look, he continued, "I mean it."

"We love you too," Courfeyrac told him, patting his shoulder and looking at Eponine, who was still glaring at him and Marius. She shook her head, closed her eyes again and resumed her previous position.

"I'm gonna go check on R," Eponine said, standing up. Courfeyrac grabbed her hand.

"I'll come with you."

"Thanks," she replied, sighing as she took his hand and walked through to the back room.

"You're so strong," he said, "it's amazing. Sorry I got mad at Marius. That was uncalled for," he said, walking slower and then stopping.

"It's alright. Everyone's freaking out a little," she said, quietly, her voice trembling a little. She was just as worried as the rest of them were, but she felt like no one else was keeping themselves together, so she was obligated to.

"Are _you _okay?" he asked, turning towards her and holding both of her hands.

"Of course," she tried to force a smile, but her voice cracked a little and she wasn't able to hold it in. She shook her head and buried her face in his shirt to hide her tears.

He wrapped his arms around her briefly, before pulling away and grasping her one hand firmly while she wiped away her tears.

Enjolras seemed to have woken up; Grantaire was sitting on the small hospital bed next to him, holding one of his hands and smiling down at him.

"How are you feeling?" Eponine asked, walking over to the two of them.

"Like shit," Enjolras replied.

"Wow, Enj, that might be the first time you've cussed in four years," Courfeyrac teased, putting his arm around Eponine and smiling in relief.

"We're just all so happy you're okay. I love you so much," Grantaire said; he hadn't stopped smiling since Enjolras had woken up. He leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"You've only told me about five times since I woke up. I'm fine," Enjolras asserted, but he was unable to refrain from smiling back at Grantaire, "so you two," he said, turning his head to look up at Eponine and Courfeyrac and groaning in pain slightly as he did so, "are you…"

Eponine smiled and looked up at Courfeyrac, who was blushing, "I think I should go tell the others you're awake," she said, leaving the room.

"Well?" Grantaire asked, after Eponine was in the waiting room.

"It's their private business, perhaps I shouldn't have asked," Enjolras muttered, but Grantaire still had that insistent look on his face. Courfeyrac just laughed and ran his hand through his hair, his cheeks still a little flushed.

"We're in a good place. I'm really happy. She's getting happier. I'm starting to think it could actually happen," he shrugged, thinking of their time alone at the beach earlier, how if they were together he could take her out like that every day.

"She seems a lot happier," Grantaire said, "Do you love her?"

Enjolras rolled his eyes, and Grantaire looked lovingly at him, brushing his hair out of his face again.

"I don't know," he shrugged, still blushing, "I haven't really been in love before. I just want her to be happy. I want to make her happy," he smiled.

"Oh just shut up and go get everyone. I need to get checked out of here as soon as possible," Enjolras demanded, forcefully pulling Grantaire down to kiss him as soon as Courfeyrac left, "I love you. I don't say it enough," he said, kissing him again.

"Actually that's the first time you've said it," Grantaire smirked, gently placing his hand behind Enjolras' neck and pulling the two of them closer.

"I'm sorry. I'm really not good with this stuff, but I know that I might have died today and wanting to still be here with you was what I thought about first, before school, before everything that I want to fix about society. I do love you, Grantaire, and I probably always will," he whispered, running his hand through Grantaire's thick curls.

"You're perfect, and I love you so much, Apollo," he smiled, beaming at everything he just heard, not entirely sure it was real.

"I'm actually not perfect. A perfect person wouldn't have acted so impulsively earlier and put his boyfriend that he loves more than anything in danger."

"_Yes _he would have, and he did. I love you even more for it," Grantaire said, leaning down to kiss Enjolras on the cheek before watching him drift back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

_((please review thank you)) _

"So, you can come right? It'll be so much fun," Grantaire asked, as Eponine put the key in her door.

She smiled, and hugged him briefly, "Of course I'm going. I love all of you guys, Cosette's place at eight, right?" she asked, rolling her eyes when his eyes lit up.

He nodded and laughed, "It's so crazy, everything that happened with Enjolras. No, fuck that. I mean everything that's happened this past month, everything that started when Enjy was Marius' roommate replacement. I couldn't be happier, Eponine. I've _never_ been happier," he smiled, "How are you, Eponine?"

She shook her head, smiling, "You're right, it's definitely crazy. I'm almost happy I passed out that night. I'm completely over Marius, and I'm almost fucking done with school, then I can get a life," she rolled her eyes.

"With Courfeyrac, when you two graduate together, and I'll be stuck here for three more years," he teased, "yeah, sounds _great_."

She took his hand and squeezed it, "oh, stop being emotional. I will not be _sad_ about finishing college! And you'll still have Enjy, he's going to get a master's, and I won't go live far away or anything like that. It'll be great. It's already great. I'm really happy too, Grantaire," she laughed, almost feeling like she might start crying.

"Remember when we used to think our lives would always suck?" he asked, "Remember when we first met?"

She smiled, giggling, "Yes. I remember when I was crying and sitting alone and I was in eleventh grade and you were only in seventh and you came up and gave me a picture you drew for me! And then I made you sit with me at lunch and then invited myself over to your house and stayed for three nights until your mom threatened to call social services!" she laughed. He laughed too.

"Of course I remember. My mom was so freaked out by you, and I was a little too honestly," he teased, "but that first sleepover was one of the best days of my life. You're probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, Eponine," he smiled. She wiped her teary eyes.

"Dammit, Grantaire, you're making me not want to graduate! And I hate school more than anyone!" she laughed, and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"You're graduating. I'll deal," he said, squeezing her and then pulling away, "see you later?"

She wiped her eyes, still smiling as he walked down the stairs, "yes, of course."

Eponine closed her door behind her as she danced into her and Courfeyrac's dorm room. He would be home in probably an hour or so, along with Enjolras, who had been released from the hospital a week ago and was returning to normal, and Grantaire and Marius and Cosette. She finally felt completely confident in herself and completely over Marius and was growing to love Cosette more by the day. The two of them had become quite close. There was only two semesters of college left for her, and then her real life would start.

For the first time in her life she felt as if everything had fallen perfectly into place; she had an amazing group of friends who loved each other, her best friend had finally met a decent guy and was pulling himself together, and her constant unrequited feelings were gone.

In addition, she was starting to fall in love. The thought of it made her a little nervous, considering she hadn't had the best experiences with these sorts of things before, but mostly she was just happy all the time. Courfeyrac made her happy. They hadn't labeled it; they didn't need to. He undeniably loved her and she was starting to feel the same way.

She heard a notification from her laptop and went over to check it, somehow feeling nervous at seeing that it was an email from the school. She opened it, and felt her stomach turn over as she read the first line.

_Eponine Thenardier: We are sorry to inform you that you will no longer be attending our university next semester, due to multiple absences and an insufficient grade point average…_

She could barely breathe. She failed. Not only that, she flunked out. She was required to transfer to a community college, and there were none in the area. Her eyes began to sting as she moved the email to her trash and resisted the urge to call someone. She wouldn't be able to hold Courfeyrac's hand when they received their degrees together, or call her parents and rub it in their faces that she made something of herself. A week or two was all she had left with all these wonderful people she was just beginning to know.

She threw her cell phone across the room and went out to the kitchen. She had a glass of wine, and then another, and another, until she lost count and Courfeyrac got home.

"Eponine…" he started. She lifted her head from the table and smiled at him.

"Hi! So are we ready to go to the thing?" she asked, enthusiastically.

He shook his head and went over to her; he picked her up and put her down on the couch and sat next to her as she giggled, "I thought we were past this…what happened?" he asked. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I have to leave," she whispered, doing her best to keep her voice from sounding the way she felt.

"What do you mean?" he asked, putting an arm around her and turning to look at her.

"I failed. I have to transfer…" she said, almost in a singsong voice, "I'm sorry…"

He looked down and then kissed her on the forehead, "Don't apologize," he whispered, "Are you sure there's nothing last minute they-,"

"No. So I'm leaving in two weeks. I have to go home. I have no money, no possible way of paying for college after this. I don't really have a choice. I'll get a part time job and try and take classes at the community college where I grew up," she shrugged. Holding back the urge to cry, she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and laid her head on his chest.

"I'll go with you," he insisted, stroking her hair, "I love you, Eponine. There's no point in denying it anymore," he laughed.

She shook her head, "You need to finish school."

"I need to be with you."

"_No. _You aren't giving up everything you've worked so hard for up for me. That's fucking ridiculous," she looked up at his heartbroken expression, knowing he wasn't going to give up.

"How long is it going to be?" he asked.

She sighed. Things had just been getting so much better, and here was this boy who was willing to drop everything for her, despite how much he had put into everything he had here, "I'll have to redo this entire year, and probably some classes I should've taken before," she admitted, "I'm sorry."

"How far away are you planning on going?"

She buried her face in his chest, "I'm going back to where I grew up. I need a place to stay and the only people I know who can give me one are still living there, and there's a community college next to my old high school…" she said.

"I don't understand why I can't go with you. We can get an apartment together, and I really don't care about this university much. I can finish school at the same place you're planning to except that I'll finish earlier a whole year," he insisted, holding her extra tightly.

Eponine felt a tear roll down her face. He wasn't going to give up on this idea; as wonderful as it sounded, the two of them dropping out of school and getting apartment together, she couldn't let him do that for her, "I'm leaving, and you can't go with me. This is the end of this discussion," she asserted.

"Then you should just stay here! Quit school until fall and then I'll go wherever you go and you can go back then. You can just keep living here until then, I'll figure something out, okay?"

She shook her head; he was so hopeful, and willing to do anything other than leave her. She couldn't do that to him, even if she really did want that. She held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut to keep any more tears from falling as she said, "I don't think we should be together anymore."

He pulled away from her slightly, "What? Ep, I'm sorry…but this isn't a reason to..."

"We're over. If I see you again one day, things might be different, but not now. I don't need your help fixing my fuck ups, okay?"

"I know you don't, but I want to help you. I just want to be there for you, please, Eponine, don't-,"

` She bit her lip, looking up to the ceiling to keep tears from falling down her face, "I'm not changing my mind," she said, coldly, hating herself for doing it but knowing there wasn't really another option if she wanted to keep him from throwing his past four years at university away.

He stood up from the couch, "You can call Grantaire and tell him to drive you to the party tonight," he sighed, walking over to the door and slipping his shoes on, "When are you leaving?"

She looked up at him from where she was on the couch, using everything she had to not run into his arms and apologize and tell him that she wanted him to come with her, and for them to get their own apartment and have jobs. She stared at her hands, "I'll start driving out there on Sunday."

He walked back over to the couch and put a hand on her cheek, barely able to hold in his own tears, "I guess this is goodbye then?"

"You're not going to the party?"

"I don't feel like being at a party right now, Eponine. I'm sure you can understand why." He bent down to kiss her and then stood up and walked out and closed the door behind himself, keeping his face turned away from Eponine as he wiped away his tears. She sat on the couch in silence for a minute, recalling everything that had just happened.

Courfeyrac went and sat outside on the steps and dialed Enjolras' number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"I can't go to the party tonight. Tell Grantaire to pick Eponine up from our dorm. I think she's a little drunk, also we kind of broke up," he admitted.

"I'm sorry. Okay, I'll do that. Should I ask why you two broke up?"

"No. You should tell Grantaire to ask Eponine, and then get him to tell me exactly what she says. I'm not even exactly sure. I thought things were so great between us…"

"That's extremely immature. I am not telling my boyfriend to interrogate your ex-girlfriend and then report back to you. Just come to the party. You love parties."

Courfeyrac stood up and walked towards his car, "I'll see you tomorrow? I'm sorry. I just really don't want to go right now. I feel really shitty about this whole thing."

"Okay, fine. I'll tell R to pick up Eponine. I hope you feel better."

"Well I won't feel better but thanks," he replied, putting his phone in his pocket.

"Tell me again why you broke up with Courf," Grantaire said, as they got out of the car and walked up the stairs to Cosette's place.

"Oh, Grantaire, I hate myself so much for it. He's so wonderful, and I really do love him, but he was going to drop out of school for me. He's worked so hard these past four years. He's going places, unlike me. It wouldn't be fair of me to let that happen. The only way to make him give up was to convince him I didn't want to be with him anymore…but I do…I really, really do. He makes me so happy," she wiped away a tear as they opened the front door, "don't slack off in school anymore, ok? And quit drinking. I mean it. I know I've said things like this before, but I really mean it."

He took her hand as they walked in the door, "I will, for you and Enjy," he said. Almost everyone rushed over to them as they walked in. All of them were so happy. Enjolras kissed Grantaire on the cheek and Cosette ran up and hugged Eponine.

"What's wrong?" Cosette asked, pulling away from her and going to stand with Marius, which surprisingly didn't bother Eponine at all. Grantaire put his arm around her.

"I'm leaving," she shrugged, "I flunked out. I'll miss all of you guys so much."

"I'll text you every day," Cosette smiled, and Eponine laughed, trying not to cry.

"I'll text you back when I can," she laughed.

"Eponine, you've been such an amazing friend to me even though I've been such an idiot in the past," Marius said. She smiled, and Grantaire tightened his arm around her shoulder.

"It's been such a pleasure to know you," Enjolras told her, "and you helped me meet my soul mate." Grantaire kissed him on the cheek and then turned back to Eponine.

"Is Courfeyrac not coming?" Jehan asked, softly. Eponine shook her head.

"He might come later," Enjolras added. Grantaire grabbed two champagne glasses from the countertop and handed one to Eponine, raising the other one.

"To my best friend who I love so much and has helped me through the worst times in my life," he said, and everyone clapped. She laughed as tears ran down her face and Cosette hugged her again.

"Enough of this emotional stuff," she laughed, "let's fucking enjoy this party."


	14. Chapter 14

"Six years ago was our first night together," Enjolras whispered. He sat against the wall on the bed, looking down at Grantaire as he slept. He reached over and pulled the curtains open as Grantaire rubbed his sleepy eyes and kicked the blankets off himself. "Do you remember it?"

Grantaire smiled, opening his eyes briefly to look at Enjolras, who was sitting up in bed looking down at him, already fully awake and clothed, with his hair damp and smelling of laundry detergent and soap. He remembered six years ago perfectly, and smiled thinking about how different the two of them were now. Enjolras' golden, curly hair had gotten so long it fell past his shoulder blades, but his cheeks hadn't lost their rosy, youthful glow. Grantaire had finally grown facial hair and had short stubble poking up from his olive skin. He then closed his eyes again to avoid the harsh light, "How long have you been awake?"

Enjolras smiled, "An hour or so," he answered.

"You should have woken me up," Grantaire said, his voice raspy from sleep.

"But you look so beautiful sleeping. That was one of the first things I fell in love with about you," he admitted.

"You've never told me that before," Grantaire said, rubbing his eyes and rolling over onto his back, "and it's sort of an uncharacteristic thing for you to start the morning off by saying. Are you ok, sweetheart?" he teased.

Enjolras nodded, "On our first night together…I woke up first. I almost felt guilty or regretful at what happened, but then I looked over at you sleeping and I was just so happy. I was instantly in love. It was crazy, and it scared me, but now I'm just so happy, Grantaire."

"I don't know why you waited six years to tell me this," Grantaire sang, "please, do go on."

"You were only seventeen…yet so hopeless, and yet still so beautiful," he said brushing his boyfriend's long, messy hair out of his eyes; Grantaire could hear the smile in Enjolras' voice. He opened his eyes and took Enjolras' hand in his.

"And you were so impulsive and passionate…you still are," he said, kissing Enjolras' hand, "I was never beautiful. I'm only less hopeless now because of you."

"I love you so much. I wake up and love you more every day," he said, sliding back into bed and wrapping his arms around Grantaire.

"You're perfect," Grantaire giggled, "but really, what's going on? Are you going to leave or something? Please don't leave," he begged, pressing his face against Enjolras' chest.

Enjolras closed his eyes for a moment, placing one hand in Grantaire's hair. He inhaled deeply, "Grantaire…" he started. Grantaire just looked up at Enjolras with wide eyes, smiling. "I wanted to ask you something…"

Grantaire reached up and kissed Enjolras briefly, and then looked at him inquisitively. His perfect, confident boyfriend almost never talked like this, "I love it when you ask me things," he whispered.

Enjolras smiled and nodded, and then slipped out of bed quickly and ran out to the other room. Grantaire sat up, leaning against the wall, smiling and rubbing his tired eyes. He tossed his hair out of his face and almost laughed when Enjolras returned. He looked so ridiculously happy and maybe even a little embarrassed or nervous, with his cheeks even more rosy than normal; it was so different than his normal composure. Grantaire scooted over to the foot of the bed, where Enjolras was standing, unable to keep from smiling himself.

He knelt down in front of Grantaire, still smiling, and looking up into his boyfriend's eyes so sweetly it was painful and pulled out a small box from behind his back. Grantaire felt his heart race and put a hand over his mouth. "Grantaire…" Enjolras started, running a hand through his hair, "You know that I love you…and that I'd do anything for you," he smiled. Grantaire felt his eyes tearing up. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you…Grantaire, I want you to marry me." He opened the box revealing a small ring.

Grantaire felt two tears roll down his cheeks, smiling bigger than he ever had, and he jumped off the bed as Enjolras stood up. "I-Enjolras-of _course!" _he exclaimed, falling into Enjolras' arms and kissing him. Enjolras wiped the tears from Grantaire's face, smiling and trying not to cry himself. "I love you so, so much."

"I'm so happy," Enjolras said, placing the small box on the bed behind Grantaire and wrapping his arms around his neck. "So, when?"

Grantaire wrapped his arms tightly around Enjolras' waist and kissed him, "tomorrow," he whispered.

"_No_," Enjolras laughed.

"Why?"

"_Because_," Enjolras teased, weaving his fingers through Grantaire's hair, "You don't want to call anyone? Make plans? And you're so sure? No thinking it over or anything?" he laughed.

Grantaire shook his head; the only person he might have wanted to call was Eponine, and they hadn't seen or talked to her in more than five years. "I love you, Enjy. I don't care at all. I just want to be with you."

"You're ridiculous," Enjolras laughed, kissing Grantaire again.

"You've been saying that for years, and I've never argued once, have I?" he asked. Enjolras took Grantaire's hand and led him over to the couch, when the front door swung open, and Jehan and Courfeyrac burst in.

"Did you do it yet? Are we too late?" Courfeyrac asked eagerly, taking his arm from around Jehan to run over and embrace Enjolras and Grantaire; Jehan giggled.

Enjolras sighed, bringing a hand up to his face. He tried to appear irritated but was too happy to actually feel any type of resentment towards anything at that moment, "Four. I said you could come over at four, after I'd gotten home from work…not at eight in the morning."

"You didn't answer!" Jehan pouted, and then turned to Grantaire with wide eyes, "did he ask you? _Did you say yes?_" he whispered.

"_Oh my god_," Enjolras groaned. Courfeyrac elbowed Jehan in the side.

"Fuck! He didn't ask yet!" he cursed, holding back laughter.

Grantaire smiled, "No, he did ask. Of course I said yes," he said, contently, squeezing Enjolras' hand tightly as he kissed him on the cheek.

"_Phew_," Jehan laughed, sitting on the opposite side of the couch from Enjolras and Grantaire. Courfeyrac sat on the coffee table.

"But if I hadn't, that would be just another reason for you to come over when I told you to, instead of _now_," Enjolras muttered.

"But _you did_, so your point is invalid," Courfeyrac teased, "So when is it? And who's going? Please don't elope, I wanna go-,"

"_Can I plan it?_" Jehan interjected, his big blue eyes lighting up, "It'll be so beautiful, I promise, it'll be perfect- oh, I can already see it!" he looked at Enjolras with pleading eyes.

Grantaire laughed, twirling Enjolras' long hair in his fingers, "That sounds lovely, Jehan. Thank you very much," he laughed.

"I am _so excited_!" Courfeyrac exclaimed, "Who are we inviting? I'll make a guest list."

Enjolras shook his head, "You'll invite the entire city. _No," _he said, standing up, "Anyways, I have to go to work. I'll see you at four," he kissed Grantaire on the cheek, "Jehan, do you want a ride?" he offered.

Jehan nodded, "Thanks!"

"I love you," Grantaire said, as Enjolras opened the front door, with Jehan right behind him.

"I can't believe you just proposed to your boyfriend and now _you're going to work_," Courfeyrac teased, "You never fucking change," he said. Grantaire shoved him.

"If I get fired I won't be able to afford Jehan's elaborate wedding designs," he insisted, stepping outside, "I love you too, R," he said, closing the door behind himself and Jehan.

"Oh, isn't he _romantic?_" Courfeyrac laughed, springing up from the coffee table and going into the kitchen.

"He's _extremely_ romantic," Grantaire insisted, "Also, we have like no food. Sorry. So, are you and Jehan not together anymore?" he asked, as Courfeyrac walked back out.

"Yeah, we broke up," Courfeyrac admitted, sitting down, "It wasn't working. He's too sweet." He thought for a moment, "So really, who're you inviting to the wedding? I was just wondering if you were planning on inviting everyone from our little group of friends in college," he asked, intently.

Grantaire groaned.

"What?" Courfeyrac demanded.

"Oh God, Courf, you didn't-,"

"Didn't _what?"_

"You totally broke up with Jehan because you weren't over Eponine," Grantaire said, shaking his head, "It's been _years_. I have no idea where she is; none of us do."

Courfeyrac tried to laugh, "That is _ridiculous_. Me? Pining over a girl for five and a half years? No, Grantaire, I'm fine, I don't _do _that," he mocked, "When have I ever acted so pathetic?"

Grantaire laughed, "Um, these last five years when you haven't forgotten about the girl you dated for like a week in college," he said.

"I have dated other people since I graduated!" he insisted, "Therefore, your arguments are all invalid. Don't you pretend you don't miss her too."

Grantaire sighed, "Yes, and you ended it with all of them, because you couldn't get over her. Of course I miss her, but it's not like she's made any sort of effort to communicate with any of us," he shrugged, "I have my own life now. I'm sure she does too." He pulled his legs up on the couch.

Courfeyrac thought for a moment, "You should really invite her to the wedding though," he said, trying his best to sound casual about it, "Don't you imagine she'd want to go? Or at least that she'd like to know everything worked out with you and Enjolras? Come on, Grantaire, you know you want to."

He shook his head, "I don't even have her number anymore, Courf."

"_I do_," Courfeyrac said, grinning and pulling his phone out, "I mean she might have changed it since we last talked, but just try, okay?"

"She probably has changed her number, it's been almost six years," he said. Courfeyrac handed Grantaire his phone.

"It's not going to kill anyone to try," he said, smiling as Grantaire rolled his eyes and scrolled through his contacts, "I can't believe you still have this, by the way," he said, as he hit call and put it on speaker.

"_I'm not here!_" Courfeyrac whispered, still smiling.

"You're acting like you're seven years old," Grantaire muttered.

"And you're acting like Enjolras! He's a bad influence on you! You used to be _so much more fun_," Courfeyrac pouted.

The phone picked up, "Hello?" Eponine answered, sounding annoyed. Grantaire nearly dropped the phone, "_Hello? _I'm hanging up in two fucking minutes if you don't-,"

"Eponine! It's me, it's Grantaire," He said, laughing, and somewhat relieved at hearing her voice again. She hadn't changed.

"Grantaire? Like as in the one I grew up with?" she asked, her voice suddenly turning happy again, "I don't believe this!" she exclaimed, "What's up?"

"Yeah, the same one," he answered, "Well, I'm not sure how to say this, but…" he started, blushing.

"_Spit it the fuck out_!" she demanded, excited, "I need to know and I'm at work so hurry up."

Grantaire took a deep breath, "I'm getting married," he answered, smiling. Eponine almost shrieked.

"To pretty debate team boy?" she asked. "How _cute!" _

"Yeah, to him, so I was calling to ask if you wanted to come," he said, "You could be the maid of honor, or something. I don't know anything about weddings. I'd just be happy if you could make it." He shifted the phone to his other ear.

"Um, you better let me come and be the fucking maid of honor," she laughed, and then thought quietly to herself for a moment, "I'm going to ask a really stupid, immature question now…"

"Ask away," he replied.

"This is so stupid. I'm so fucking stupid sometimes," she murmured, "And I really do have to go soon, but-," she hesitated, "Is, um, is Courfeyrac gonna be there?" she asked, biting her lip. Grantaire smiled. Courfeyrac almost jumped out of his seat.

"_Do not fucking tell her I'm here. Ask if she has thought about me at all_," Courfeyrac whispered.

Grantaire pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment and covered the receiver, "No! Ask her yourself!"

"You suck," Courfeyrac whined.

Grantaire put the phone back up against his ear, "Yeah, he'll be there. Why do you ask?"

"It was a question, jeez, is he with someone?" she asked.

"He and Jehan broke up like last week or something," Grantaire said, as Courfeyrac put his face in his hands. Eponine sighed.

"_Oh_," she said, trying her best to sound happy or interested about it.

"But don't worry, he only used Jehan to try and get over you," Grantaire said, laughing and making a face at Courfeyrac, who made strangling gestures.

"How sweet," Eponine answered, laughing, "ok, I really do have to go now. Thanks, Grantaire, I'll definitely be there," she said, hanging up the phone. Grantaire hung up and handed the phone back to Courfeyrac.

"You are such a douchebag," Courfeyrac said.

"_You're_ the douchebag," Grantaire laughed, "I convinced her to come. Just shut up and be happy about it."


End file.
